NO COUNTRY FOR DUMB MAN, 4min., USA, Comedy
Directed by Minhan Liang
An assassin got exposed after meeting a sexy girl.
https://instagram.com/minhan4real
Get to know the filmmaker:
1. What motivated you to make this film?
I always love the films of Quentin Tarantino. He makes me feel like film is an art form to satisfy the creator’s fantasy, therefore it can be full of violence, sex and absurdity. And I always want to achieve things that I can’t do in real life in my film, so I made “No Country for Dumb Man”. This is also my very first attempt to involve guns and blood in my short film since there’s technical difficulties to involves these elements in a low budget short. Not only this, I grew up watching Stephen Chow’s comedies, his good sense of rhythm and unique ways to tell stories really inspire me to create such a dark comedy film.
2. From the idea to the finished product, how long did it take for you to make this film?
We spent about 2 months in this film. We used about a week or two to finalize the script, and a month to do preparation, 14 hours to shoot it and 2 weeks to do post-production.
3. How would you describe your film in two words!?
Funny.
Juicy.
4. What was the biggest obstacle you faced in completing this film?
Make the gun fire aftereffects and think of how to make the blood spraying effect are the biggest obstacle in this project. I think the texture of real blood is impossible to mimic in aftereffects and we ended up making a DIY blood sprayer in order to get the best result in camera. And we choose to combine special effects with practical effect to make the violence scene satisfying, but then when designing the storyboard we also need to come up with ideas to protect our camera since we’re using the actual blood.
5. What were your initial reactions when watching the audience talking about your film in the feedback video?
Happy. I felt very extremely happy and excited to see people get entertained in my film because that’s the purpose of me making this film! Laugh out loud! I really appreciate the audiences with different gender and race loving and commenting on my film, it’s really my pleasure to make this comedy success in different culture. What the audiences said really encouraged motivated me to keep trying hard on my next project.
6. When did you realize that you wanted to make films?
I learn to use imovie when I was in 8th grade and I just keep making dumb videos. I think since then, I realize film is what I want to do in my future.
7. What film have you seen the most in your life?
Kung Fu Hustle. A film by Stephen Chow.
8. What other elements of the festival experience can we and other festivals implement to satisfy you and help you further your filmmaking career?
I think this festival has already give me more than I expect, I can’t ask for more haha.
9. You submitted to the festival via FilmFreeway. How has your experiences been working on the festival platform site?
It’s been very good. FilmFreeway is a convenient platform for filmmaker to submit their work to festivals.
10. What is your favorite meal?
Hotpot and Rice!
11. What is next for you? A new film?
I’m still a student for now, and my next project will be a music video! And many eastern elements’ gonna be in the MV!
Matthew Toffolo's Summary 